LSU is an equalaccess/opportunity University.

LSU Today Flagship Faculty

Ellen Kennerly

What was your previous position and where?

I was director of operations for ajc.com with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I worked at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for almost 18 years, holding positions including Olympics news editor for Metro/Features, A1 news editor, presentation editor, graphics editor and director of content development for ajc.com.

What brought you to LSU?

Opportunity and timing. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was downsizing and Cox was quite generous during this difficult time with those who chose to leave. Then the LSU job posting arrived from a friend in my email. The opportunity to expand my work with students, something I had done previously on a guest lecturer basis, was too tempting to pass up.

What is your research interest?

My position here is focused on advising the Daily Reveille and teaching, so my priorities at present are in training and networking to place students in careers. That said, I think there is a tremendous opportunity to work more closely with those in the media business — particularly newspapers — as their budgets for research and product development dwindle. Universities are positioned to provide the industry with analysis they can no longer afford in the private sector.

What do you hope to accomplish at LSU?

First, to expand LSU's breadth in digital, including online, mobile and social media.

What do you enjoy most about LSU?

The students.

What are your major accomplishments?

I have a number of Society of News Design awards, a Service Award from the Southern Regional Press Institute and a Facilitators Recognition award. But by far, the accomplishments I take the most pride in were on the job: working on the 1996 Summer Olympics, which began in 1992, including the coverage of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing; coordinating the blending of Cox teams to one cohesive Olympics desk; working as graphics editor with a team that executed a project called "When Bugs Fight Back" that won a Pulitzer; working nonstop for weeks after 9/11; and the list goes on. My last position there was as the director of a team of product development managers, a quality assurance specialist and a number of web designers working with web developers and journalists to develop software applications and online web components — from interactive databases to entire web sites. It was a fantastic experience and a paradigm that continues to play out today in newsrooms across the country.